I agree with you about the rabbit hole that is espresso! It's a full time hobby on it's own. I need to share resources between coffee geekery and home theatre quite a bit.

I have a very similar machine to yours, mine is the Saeco Via Venezia. I secretly wish it would die so I can justify an upgrade, but is still pulls some pretty good shots. Does the Aroma have that pressurized portafilter? Mine did, I got rid of that right away for a standard portafilter which made a world of difference.

Those Mazzers are awesome grinders, but from my research they seemed to be a little more "espresso-centric" whereas the Rocky seemed to be more of an all around performer. I know for press pots I can grind coffee even coarser than it needs to be and get minimal sludge in the cup. I can also choke up my espresso machine at the fine settings. If you are looking for a great grinder, I highly recommend the Rocky. It has the same burrs and motor as the commercial Rancilio grinder and is built like a tank.

I love that hand-crank thing. That's beautiful.

I think - to REALLY "solve the problem", you would have to use a roller mill (or a series of them) instead of a burr grinder. Of course, you'd need the ability to adjust the distance between the rollers very precisely, which may not be practical depending upon design and scale.

http://schmidling.com/maltmill.htm

Does anyone go so far as to roast their own beans?

There is a coffee shop in Halifax I used to love to frequent but every Wednesday, they roasted their own beans and I couldn't go anywhere near the place.

The resulting aroma outside is simply awful. Nothing like the addictive smell of the resulting product inside. I won't say what I think it smells like but if you have a hospital nearby that is authorized to incinerate their own 'waste material' (of which I leave the details to your imagination) then you know the smell.

i did try to roast my own beans once, after reading a few good books on the subject; the results were ok.
i did not do it again, not liking the time it took.

no bad smells; be sure it's coffee beans and nothing else. ;-)

If my math is correct, and I'd like to think that it is. $17.89/lb

Follow up to my previous posts re coffee:

i did get a Nespresso machine at the beginning of January and
have been enjoying excellent coffee since then.

i also found a way to make "percolator" coffee for friends who don't like espresso, those who say "oh, it's so strong!":
i use 1 Nespresso coffee capsule and run it twice at the "longo" setting, thus making about 220ml of coffee.
the result is by far the best "percolator" coffee anyone has ever tried, with crema that lasts until you see the bottom of the cup.

I've decided to get back into boating and have some more fun out on the water this season after going a few years without a boat...used to have a nice Starcraft 196 Superfisherman with a 175 Merc Optimax on it. Anyhoo, decided once again on a rivetted boat (vs welded) and looked at some Starcrafts and G3's before we ended up coming across a nice Princecraft Sport 172 the other day up in cottage country...we got a great deal on it, fully loaded, has fold down bench seat on back/casting platform, trolling motor, stand up top, etc, 115 OPtimax, can't wait to get it out!!

Nice Adrian!

I like to see my fellow Axiomites enjoying themselves on the water ... between the work on the house and the 15-20 mph winds we've been having since the opening day of March we haven't had ours out in a while.

Where do you store it during the winter?

Thanks Rick, I new you'd chime in!!

I've recently bought a home with 3/4 acre property just outside of Toronto, so I'll keep it there(trailered). I used to keep my Starcraft at a Marina on Lake Simcoe, just north of Toronto, but I had my 15 hp kicker stolen off it. At least now I'll be able to keep an eye on the new one now.

When you takin' early retirement and coming up for some fishing, Rick?

Congrats on the new acreage with the abode amigo, I hope it serves you well!

Adrian if this wind keeps howling like it has non-stop for the past month and our work keeps piling up I'll forgo the early retirement and just quit, no mas ... finito.

I'll then bring whatever fishing poles the bank hasn't confiscated and so as long as you provide the gas I'll provide said fishing poles and we can fish as long as the lakes up your way aren't frozen over.

How's that!

B.T.W...

Are the lakes usually still frozen over up there in mid-July?